DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United Arab Emirates' biggest telecommunications provider said Tuesday its team has won a potentially lucrative deal to enter the Iranian mobile phone market.

Emirates Telecommunications Corp., known as Etisalat, said it received Iran's third nationwide mobile license as part of a consortium with Iran-based Taameen Telecom. Taameen is owned by state pension provider Iranian Social Security Organization.

Etisalat has a 49 percent stake in the consortium. The Abu Dhabi-based company said it beat other bidders because of its technical qualifications and the share of revenue it offered Tehran.

"We were of course the highest bidder. Our technical submission was first class," Jamal al-Jarwan, Etisalat's chief executive for international investments, said in an interview. "But the financial (aspect) ... was the key factor."

Etisalat's bid beat competing proposals from teams that included Kuwait-based Zain Group, Oman's Omantel, Telecom Malaysia Bhd. and Bharti Enterprises of India, al-Jarwan said.

Acquiring the license will cost an upfront fee of euro300 million, or $402 million. Al-Jarwan said the consortium will also share 23.6 percent of revenue with the government.

In exchange, Etisalat will be able to operate its network for a minimum of 15 years. It will also have the exclusive right to provide third-generation, or 3G, data-heavy services for the first two years.

Story continues below

Etisalat is hoping for considerable growth in Iran because of the country's large, young population and relatively low levels of cell phone use. The 3G rights could also be an important selling point among affluent Iranians willing to pay for the ability to browse the Web on their phones.

Etisalat has more than 74 million subscribers in 17 countries. Al-Jarwan said the company, which late last year said it had over $3 billion in available cash, will continue to seek out investments that support a growth strategy focused on Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

"The cash position for Etisalat is solid," al-Jarwan said. "The capital market collapse, this has minimal impact on Etislat's ability to grow globally."

Elsewhere in the region, Egyptian telecom giant Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. and Zain said they had been awarded licenses to manage Lebanon's two mobile phone operators.

Orascom, which last month launched 3-G service in North Korea, said it would manage Lebanese-owned Alfa for a one-year period. The company, which also operates services in Algeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Tunisia and Zimbabwe, said it was required to raise the number of subscribers from 600,000 to 1 million.

Orascom did not disclose terms of the deal, but said the management fee would be paid by the Lebanese government. The contract is renewable for another year, it said.

Zain, which operates in 22 Middle Eastern and African countries, said it retained its contract to manage mtc touch _ the other Lebanese operator _ for another year.

Zain's chief executive, Saad Al Barrak, said the company was looking forward "to the privatization of the mobile sector (in Lebanon)" and was "hopeful that we can secure a long term license to operate in this promising country."

The Kuwait-based company has been in Lebanon since 2004, when it was first awarded the contract to manage what became known as mtc touch. The company has about 800,000 active customers, and Zain said it was committed to adding another 400,000 customers.

___

AP Business Writer Tarek El-Tablawy in Cairo, Egypt contributed reporting.